🇯🇵 Masahiro Hasemi

Masahiro Hasemi is a semi-professional driver whose career was defined by his work in Japanese saloon car and GT racing before his single, historic Formula 1 appearance. His Racer Rating of 3,414 places him in the semi-professional band, a level typically occupied by drivers who win in pro-am and one-make classes and run mid-pack among full professionals. His racing began in motocross and progressed through a long association with Nissan starting in 1964, establishing him as a fixture in Japanese domestic racing through the 1970s.[1]

Hasemi's only Formula 1 race came at the 1976 Japanese Grand Prix driving for Kojima, where he qualified tenth and finished eleventh, seven laps behind the winner. This appearance made him one of the first three Japanese drivers to start a Formula 1 Grand Prix alongside Noritake Takahara and Kazuyoshi Hoshino. The Kojima team itself was a marginal operation with no race wins across its entire history in the database and a peak driver rating of 4,312; Hasemi was not its strongest entry. His sole classified finish at P11 represents typical mid-field pace from a driver making a one-off appearance in a top-level field rather than a career-defining moment.[2]

Beyond his single-seater attempt, Hasemi remained active in Japanese motorsport and later became a team owner, his name appearing in recent motorsport headlines through his continued involvement with Nissan's racing programme and the NISMO Festival, though the details of that work lie outside his driver record.